A clumsy fall harshly punished, or an attempt to cheat his old mates? What do Salut! Sunderland readers think about the moment Phil Bardsley went down in the penalty box? …

Over at the Republik of Mancunia site, with which we had good relations in the build-up to Sunday’s game, a lot of people have been having a go at Phil Bardsley.

Bardsley was booked for simulation after going down in the box after good interplay with Fraizer Campbell put him in a dangerous position that should have produced a quality cross and an an equaliser.

Republik of M – whose reproduction of the photographic evidence is a good deal better than ours – is in no doubt. Beneath the headline “Phil Bardsley – hang your head in shame”, it says:

“Salford born Phil Bardsley joined Manchester United’s academy when he was 8-years-old. Before leaving Old Trafford in 2008, he was the only player in the first team squad who had progressed through all the levels of our academy.

He was brought up near our old training ground, The Cliff, and used to go there during the school holidays to watch his idols train.

So it does make you wonder why with 55 minutes played and United leading 1-0, Bardsley chose to throw himself to the floor in a bid to see Sunderland win a penalty and Ryan Giggs, the closest man to him, booked, or worse, sent off.”

Leaving aside the fact that United players also cheat from time to time, Salut! Sunderland restates its own position. We have been entirely consistent in attacking all diving, all feigned injury, all attempts to get opposing players booked or dismissed.

Watching in the ground, I though Bardsley had simply slipped on the wretched Stadium of light surface. One of the frames borrowed from RoM shows Bardsley throwing up his arms in apparent appeal for a penalty.

If that genuinely was in his mind – and we have to accept that Steve Bennett, having the best game I have seen from him, interpreted it that way – then the yellow was fully justified and I would be disappointed that any player in our stripes should act in that way.

This is what I said in response to a comment posted here by RoM’s Scott the Red:

If he (Bennett) was right, Bardsley should be fined a month’s wages for turning a goalscoring opportunity into a yellow card. And I accept without hesitation that no United player or official has ever so much as thought of cheating in any shape or form. From SAF to the lowliest apprentice, MUFC observe the Corinthian spirit without exception or complaint.

That remains my view. But I’d love to hear from Mr Bardsley, who – to be fair – looked genuinely surprised and upset when booked, which added to my feeling at the time that he had simply lost his balance. The arms need explaining, though!

Colin Randall

Thirty hours ago, Pete Sixsmith were discussing whether we had a clear shared viewpoint on Steve Bruce. Should we, without actually seeking his dismissal, withdraw the support we’ve given him so far? Should there be a good cop/bad cop debate between us on these pages? One home win against Bolton and life seems altogether different, as Pete declares before pausing for more rational thought …

The gloom has lifted. The light shines brightly. The route to European qualification is ahead and I can see clearly now the rain has gone.

Well, not quite. It was a very important result, a much improved performance and a huge relief, but let’s not carried away.

We beat a side whose defending at times was woeful, who were incapable of having a shot on target and who could not keep 11 players on the field, despite Steve Bennett’s best efforts to emasculate our skipper.

We still showed hesitancy at the back, the midfield was better but still not firing on all four cylinders and the forwards did miss some chances, but, as they almost say at the end of Some Like It Hot, nothing’s perfect. To say that this was a vast improvement on the rubbish served up recently is like comparing Clement Attlee’s Labour Government with the rag bag administration we have now.

Steve Bruce will have gone into his meeting with Ellis Short knowing that the players can be motivated, can perform well and do want to achieve at Sunderland.

The outpouring of joy and relief as Bent’s penalty put the result beyond doubt showed that the crowd want success and also want to see decent football – and last night we got both.

We have one centre forward who is a genuine goalscorer and another who is a natural provider. Both played very well. Bent’s ability was shown by his first and third goals where he took delivery of excellent passes from Cattermole and Campbell to take a step away from his defender and fire home shots that beat the keeper low down. Quality!!

Kenwyne had an equally good game, winning numerous balls in the air, both up front and when defending corners. If he does move on in the summer, our team will be all the poorer without him.

For the first time since David Cameron had a comfortable lead in the opinion polls, our midfield actually created something. That we did was due to our Gauloise-inhaling, curfew-breaking Franco/Belgian midfielder, Steed, who overcame his spat with the Brucester to turn in a tremendous performance on the left. He weaved and burrowed his way through the Wanderers defence on numerous occasions and gave us what we have been missing for weeks – creativity and imagination. Great stuff.

Cana also looked much more settled, despite a harsh booking from Steve Bennett, who was reaching for his pocket even before Lorik had completed his tackle. That triggers a two-game ban and he will be missed and, although we may be able to get Reid into the centre of midfield on Sunday. I would implore Bruce leave Steed where he is!!

Defensively, we looked sound. Mensah is a pleasure to watch and Turner is effective. Big Bad Bully Boy Davies got no change out of them, while Elmander did as passable impersonation of Rada Prica as you are likely to see. Swedish centre forwards (other than Henrik Larsson) should be avoided at all costs. Remember Thomas Brolin …

I did like Lee and Wilshere – either would be an asset in our team, although you could tell Wilshere was from Arsène’s Academy as he just refused to shoot when he had the chance: one excellent run across the goal should have brought much more than it did.

It was a lovely feeling to micturate merrily in the Gents’ post-game. There was a hum of contentment as we walked down to the car, mixed with realism. The vast majority of us (like most fans) are realists and we know that this is not the beginning of a push for the Europa League. We may well crash and burn on Sunday, but at least we know that we can be top of the Relegation League – and that’s a league that isn’t sponsored by Coca Cola.

Steve Bennett, not Salut! Sunderland‘s favourite referee by a long shot (even when we get his name right – see comments), so comprehensively annoys opposing sets of fans that he probably feels he must be getting something right. While Gooners bleat that he allowed our ruffians to hack away at their cultured elite, Sunderland supporters point to his failure to dismiss Fabregas for as clear a second yellow offence as could be imagined. Pete Sixsmith intensifies the war of words …

That’s the weekend games over, and incredibly, we have only dropped one place in the Race To Get Out Of The Premier League And Into the Championship Table. This is clearly not good enough, and Bruce must ensure that we lose the next four games so that we can join the Doncasters, Bristol Citys and Watfords of the footballing world.

If the world were turned upside down, that would be a distinct possibility. There appears to be a lemming like rush to get out of the top league as all the bottom eight teams bar one, lost – and that was West Ham, who beat Hull City, a fellow struggler.

Bolton, Burnley and Wigan all lost on Sunday to make the weekend a darn sight less gloomy than it could have been. All three Lancashire clubs look as if they are can’t wait to visit the Keepmoat Stadium. Bolton can’t score (until they play us, presumably), Burnley are hopeless away from Turf Moor away (see earlier comment), while Wigan appear to be playing on the mud flats left behind when the tide goes out on the Wear. Even the Rugby League players find that pitch an embarrassment.

Survival is clearly in our own hands. If we can beat the likes of Burnley, Bolton, Fulham and Birmingham at home, we should survive for another season in “the worlds greatest League”. If we fail to win these games, we can always hope that there are two sides even less organised, motivated and inspired than we are. Portsmouth will do well avoid liquidation and will almost certainly be docked points, meaning that one relegation place is filled.

Can we do it? I would not be inclined to respond with a ringing, Obama like “Yes We Can!!!!!”. Saturday was better than some recent performances, but not much. It’s like saying that Gordon Brown’s public image is better than it was a year ago; you get my drift?

That anything other than an Arsenal victory would have been a travesty is not up for argument. They were streets ahead of us and they played some lovely football at times. A draw would have been a steal, but we had the chances.

The best one fell to Kenwyne, who took a superb ball from Richardson, timed his run perfectly, had a great first touch…. and planted it wide. In games like these, you don’t get many, if any, chances and to fail to take such a good one is unforgivable.

I though Jones had a decent game; he and Bent worked hard, looked for the ball and both helped an at times, beleaguered defence. But when presented with a clear run on goal, you have to take it. These are the moments that define your season and define you as a player. If Jones is ambitious, he needs to be sharper.

Another player who did well was Craig Gordon. He looks a very good keeper and I wouldn’t be surprised if Wenger were seriously considering him for next season. He was composed and brave and made a number of outstanding saves. He settled the nerves of our wobbly defence and looked the authoritative figure we all hoped he would be.

Other than that, Mensah made a number of outstanding interceptions and he really should be our No 1 central defender. It’s just that when he goes down, you wonder if that’s the last you will see of him for a month. Richardson did well and tried to open up the Gunners with perceptive passes and thoughtful runs. As for the rest, Turner, Ferdinand and Hutton were ok, Cana looked a pale shadow of the player we thought he was in summer and autumn, Campbell appears to be completely out of his depth and McCartney ended up being employed as a fill in player rather than the classy left back we once believed him to be.

That we avoided another drubbing was down to hard work and Arsenal’s desire to make three passes when two will do. We now have some “winnable” games coming up. The players and the management have to make sure that attitudes are right and that they have the confidence in their undoubted ability. It’s what they are paid for.

Bruce could also ask the FA to keep Steve Bennett away from us for the rest of the season/year/decade/century/millennium. He is a shocking ref. He looks the part and struts as well as any I have seen, but he is a bottler. He COULD have sent Cana off, but he SHOULD have sent Fabregas off. Both tackles were nasty; if he thought Cana’s deemed only a yellow, well we got away with it. But the Fabregas tackle on Mensah was violent and was intended to hurt. He saw it, spoke to Fabregas and he knew it should be a yellow followed by a red. He ducked it. Cowardly refereeing which makes sure that sad people like me see a conspiracy behind every door.

Fulham on Sunday is the most important game of the season so far. If we don’t win this one, we could be in the bottom three – an unbelievable thought in October. It’s a big week for Sunderland AFC.